THE phrase “unrealized potential” becomes one of the saddest comments that can be made about a person or institution when said repeatedly over time.
When it is first uttered, it brings with it a challenge to achieve greatness. Eventually, though, the phrase becomes the obituary of a history of failure.
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) was established as a non-governmental organization in 1960 with the support of the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and the government of the Philippines. For more than 50 years, the IRRI has created a green revolution in rice from creating new varieties, bringing new methods of planting and harvesting to even inventing a “Super Bag” to protect rice from pest and moisture damage after harvest. Sixty-percent of all rice grown in the world comes from seeds first produced at the IRRI.
The rice at the IRRI is planted in Philippine soil, matures under a “Philippine” sun and is nourished with Philippine water. Yet, the Philippines has seen the lowest increase of rice production of our close neighbors.
Over a 25-year period, Filipino farmers have gained a massive additional $52, or P2,300, in income per hectare. Vietnam’s rice production has increased every year since the 1980s, with the country now being the world’s second-largest rice exporter. Indonesia first achieved rice self-sufficiency in 1984, even if its self-sufficiency status has fluctuated since then due to increased demand. The Philippines must import some of its rice needs.
Now we are told, according to a report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), that the Philippines’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program is “among the world’s best.” In fact, the Philippines is rated just under Australia, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan and India.
“The Philippines moves up to join the developed group of countries in this study,” the EIU said. “The governments of Vietnam, Bhutan, China and Tonga, among others, have sent teams to the PPP Center to study the Philippines’s PPP Program.”
With that assessment from a global consulting group like the EIU, you might think the country is now filled with completed (or at least under construction) superhighways from North to South. Rail transportation would be moving cargo from highly efficient seaports. State-of-the-art modern airports welcome travelers from around the world to experience the fun in the Philippines.
Instead, looking closely at the EIU as we did, you find what looks great is only what is written on paper.
The one and only project that the EIU reported on for the Philippines was the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, and that mention was to highlight that “some major controversies have arisen.”
The report goes into detail on all the improvements in the assessment categories of “Regulatory” and “Institutional” frameworks, but it does not cite where these have translated into major viable, and economy-enhancing projects.
It is important and favorable that the Philippines has advanced to providing a very good PPP system and framework. However, the possibility for the EIU report five or 10 years from now to say that the Philippines has “unrealized potential” is far too high.